An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Plant Phytolacca americana (Phytolaccaceae)

Common Names
Pokeweed
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
PHYTOLACCOGENIC-ACID 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
POKEBERRYGENIN 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
POKEWEED-ANTIVIRAL-PROTEIN 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PREBETANINE 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PROTEIN 0 Shoot 26000.0 311000.0 0.90 Duke, 1992 *
QUERCETIN-3-L-ARABINO-7-D-GLUCOSIDE 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
RESIN 0 Root not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
RIBOFLAVIN 15 Shoot 3.0 39.0 2.00 Duke, 1992 *
STARCH 5 Root not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
TANNIN 35 Root not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
THIAMIN 31 Shoot 1.0 10.0 -0.30 Duke, 1992 *
WATER 0 Shoot not available 916000.0 0.83 Duke, 1992 *
XYLOSE 3 Root not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Prostaglandin-Synthesis-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Psychotropic 1 Uchida, U., Ohta, H., Niwa, M., Mori, A., Nonaka, G-i., Nishioka, I., and Zaki, M. 1989. Prolongation of Life Span of Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHRSP) Ingesting Persimmon Tannin. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 38(4): 1049-1052, 1990.
Respirastimulant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Sedative 3 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Serotoninergic 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Sweetener 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Termitifuge 1 Jacobson, M., Glossary of Plant-Derived Insect Deterrents, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 213 p, 1990.
Thymoprotective 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
TNF-alpha-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Topoisomerase-II-Inhibitor 1 Bernard, F. X., Sable, S., Cameron, B., Provost, J., Desnottes, J. F., Crouzet, J., Blanche, F. 1997. Glycosylated Flavones as Selective Inhibitors of Topoisomerase IV. Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy, 41: 992-998.
Tranquilizer 1 Duke, 1992 *
Ubiquiot 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Uricosuric 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Urinary-Acidulant 1 Martindale's 29th
Uterotonic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Vasodilator 3 Martindale's 29th
Vasopressor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Vulnerary 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Xanthine-Oxidase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *